McConnell Stops Ryan Sermona in Seven Rounds

Ryan Sermona of the Philippines has lost his WBC International super featherweight title by a 7th round TKO to Australian Corey McConnell at the Crossing Theatre in Narrabri, New South Wales.

McConnell who had put his career on hold for one year citing a lack of quality fights and outside commitments told Aussie Boxing in an exclusive interview that “ The opportunity to fight for the WBC International title is what brought me back.” He added “I believe the WBC is the most prestigious belt, so that’s what way we went.”

The fight was stopped on the advice of the ringside doctor who claimed the cut suffered by Sermona as a result of a punch was too severe for the Filipino to continue.

The newly crowned 28 year old Australian improved to 14-1-1 with 2 knockouts while the 26 year old Sermona dropped to 16-6 with 9 knockouts.

The Filipino southpaw won the title in a massive upset over highly favored Matt Garlett with a 4th round knockout in Metro City, Western Australia on December 6, 2013.

McConnell scored a unanimous twelve round decision over rugged Filipino Jerry “Dangerous” Nardo to win the vacant World Boxing Union title with what was described as an impressive and one-sided performance on August 8, 2013 after which he hung up his gloves.

McConnel told Aussie Boxing “The reason coming back is pretty simple. The fire was still there and I couldn’t kick it.”

Ringside reports said McConnell didn’t miss a beat as he cruised to an early lead and easily turned back the perceived challenge of Sermona, neutralizing the Filipino’s strength and looping overhand left with athleticism and superior footwork. However, Sermona did not go down without a fight – tagging McConnell several times with left hooks – that temporarily stunned the Australian.

Aussie Boxing reported that McConnell was made to look like a veteran, showing his complete bag of tricks to clearly outpoint Sermona in all aspects of the fight. Although Sermona was clearly the bigger puncher of the two, even having his occasional moments of success, it was clear that McConnell was the superior boxer between the two and as the fight progressed, McConnell began to grow in confidence..

The report noted that Sermona was typically wild with his punches throughout, which in turn played perfectly into McConnell’s hands – as he eagerly picked him off from range for the majority of the contest.

McConnell was full of praise for his sparring partners post-fight, citing his work with Filipino Richard Pontillas as a major contributor to his sharpness in the build up to the title fight.

“It was very important after being out for a while the sparring had to be rough and tough to get us as close to being fight fit as possible,” he said. “It was hands down been my best preparation in the lead up to any fight.”

“I had a big hurdle to get over last night. Now that it’s done we will look see what happens next.”